Oiler for tools operated by fluid pressure



March 9, 1937. H. J. HERSEY, JR., ET AL 2,973,009

OILER FOR TOOLS OPERATED BY FLUID PRESSURE Filed Feb. 11, 1935 PIE. .2.l

25 INVENTORS' 7 )7. J f/aspyde, 24 (x BY .4 6. ANDE/ESEN,

1/ l3 5 A TroRNEY Patented Mar. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIQEOILER FOR TOOLS OPERATED BY FLUID PRESSURE Application February 11,1935, Serial-No. 5,888

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an oiler for tools operated by fluid pressure,and more particularly, for compressed-air rock drills, pneumatichammers, and so on, although not necessarily re- 5 stricted thereto.

The principal objects of our invention are to provide:

First. An oiler that is light in weight and comparatively small in size,so that it can be conveniently attached to the tool itself.

Second. An oiler which shall provide normal drainage in almost everyposition, and be provided with a sediment trap.

Third. An oiler in which drain-back of oil into airline is preventedwhen air is shut off.

Fourth. A valve construction that cannot readily be tampered with, oradjustment changed by operator.

Fifth. An oiler in which the main air passage is practicallyunrestricted and the oil is efficiently emulsified and atomized uponentering the main air stream.

Sixth. A construction that is simple, durable and inexpensive.

In attaining these objects, we provide a body or housing structurecomposed of a base, and a tightly fitting cap, preferably made ofaluminum. Extending longitudinally through the base, is a passage ofgenerous dimensions forming a part of the main airline leading to thetool to which the oiler is attached. Between the passage walls and thehousing walls are recesses, which, together with an ample recess in thecap, constitute an oil reservoir. From a point near the bottom of thereservoir, where it has its intake, a small conduit or pipe tangent tothe inside surface of the cap leads up into the main air passage, andhas its upper terminus in a spraying or atomizing nozzle near the upperend of the main air passage while its lower tip is provided with anintake tip for oil. The nozzle extends into the main air passage in theshape of a slight protruberance, and constitutes a shield against whichthe oncoming air impinges and acts in the capacity of an ejector tocreate a suction drawing oil from the reservoir and projecting it intothe air passage as an emulsifying spray. In order to equalize the airpressure in the oil reservoir, a small vent conduit extends from a pointin the main air line somewhat below the oil discharge mouth, into theupper part of the oil reservoir.

At a suitable point along the oil conduit, may be disposed a regulatingvalve accessible through a removable plug in the cap. The oil conduitand the air-vent conduit, together with the regulating valve, arepreferably disposed in the base structure, self-contained therewith, andconveniently accessible when the cap is removed from tached to anordinary compressed air rock drill.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 10 denotes the base, and thenumeral l2 the cap, of the oiler, the plane of separation between'thetwo being along the line M The coinciding faces of the base and cap arepreferably ground perfectly true and smooth, and before assembling them,they are covered with a suitable soft gasket compound, being thentightly drawn in place by any suitable means, for instance, screws 15,extending through holes l3 of the base and threaded in holes H in thecap.

Through the base from bottom to top extends a passage l6, Fig. 1, whichmay form the continuation of the airline between the hose 11, Fig. 4,and the connection [8 of an ordinary compressed air drill 22. The airflows in the direction of the arrows 23, Fig. 1.

The passage i6 is defined within a barrel 19, into the ends of which,may be screwed the nippics 20 and 2| to receive the connections from thehose [1 and the drill 22, respectively. A reservoir for oil may beprovided in proximity to the passage IS in any suitable manner, forexample, by means of recesses 24 on both sides of the barrel,

and recess 25 in the cap l2. A suction nozzle 26 opens into the passageI6 for the purpose of injecting a spray of oil into the passing streamof compressed air. This nozzle is so disposed, that as the current ofcompressed air flows past, the current has the tendency to produce avacuum just in front of the nozzle tip 21, whereby oil is sucked throughthe nozzle on the ejector principle in a manner that is well known.

In the present instance, a portion 28 protrudes into the main airpassage and deflects the air current in the vicinity of the nozzle tip,as indicated by the larger arrows, Fig. 1, tending to produce a vacuumin the angular niche 29, and therefore drawing in the oil which emergesfrom the nozzle as a line spray, indicated by the smaller arrows. Theoil spray is thoroughly mixed with the air stream, thereby forming anemulsion flowing directly into the drill mechanism with almost nopossibility of condensation before reaching the working parts of thedrill.

The oil nozzle may be connected with the lower part of the oil reservoirby means of a duct and a tube 3|, the latter forming a continuation ofthe duct. The tube is preferably screwed as at 32, into the structure33, and further is preferably curved so that its tip 3l-l contacts theportion l2--l of the cap as indicated in Fig. 1. In this position thetube is free from contact at all other points but is under tension dueto the portion l2l being stressed against the tip 3l-l as the cap I2 isdrawn against the base when tightening the screws l5. This tensioncauses the curved tube to be positively held in place, and prevents thejar and rattle of the drill in operation, from shaking the tube loose.

Oil from the reservoir is drawn into the tube through holes 34, and theamount of oil that enters, may be closely regulated by a valve 35,having a port 36. The valve is preferably threaded, and at 31 may beslotted for engagement by a screwdriver. When properly adjusted, thevalve may be secured in place by a locknut 38.

In order to equalize the air pressure in the oil reservoir and in themain air passage, a vent duct 3 is provided which preferably extendsfrom a point intermediate the oil nozzle and the lower end of mainair-passage l5, up to a high level, such as 40, in the oil reservoir.

The oil reservoir may be filled through an opening 4| to any desiredlevel 25-I, and into this opening may be threaded an ordinary pipebushing 42 having a screen 43 across its lower circumference to guard asmuch as possible against the entry of dirt into the reservoir. As aclosure for the reservoir, a pipe plug 45 may be removably screwed intothe bushing.

A small recess at 46 provides a trap for sediment which may be cleanedout by removing the cap l2. The removal of the cap also provides accessto every part of the oiler for cleaning it, but at the same time isrendered sufficiently tedious that the usual operator in the field doesnot care to attempt any tampering with adjustment of the oiler.

It will be noted that the oil duct and the vent duct are both so locatedand arranged that drainage of oil from the reservoir in the usualWorking positions of the drill, does not occur when the compressed airis shut off.

Some of the advantages accruing through the use of the present devicemay be appreciated by reference to Fig. 4 where the drill 22, is shownsupported on a standard 4'! in an ordinary working position, and thelocation of our improved oiler with reference to the drill, is indicatedat 48, close up to the drill and so as to be carried around with it asan integral part thereof. This is made possible because of the smallsize and light weight of our oiler.

In the operation of the drill, the close proximity of the oiler to theworking parts of the drill, is a great advantage because the emulsifiedoil does not have a chance to be condensed before reaching the operatingparts. This cures a fault which exists in oilers as heretoforeconstructed, because of their excessive weight, and the necessity ofattaching them to the air hose at a considerable distance away from thedrill, generally about ten feet, and often fifty feet.

While minor details are herein specifically shown and described, it isto be understood that these may be changed from time to time, asrequired by individual circumstances, so long as they come within thespirit of the following claims.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim is:

1. An oiler for compressed air tools and the like, including a bodyportion having a main air passage therein, a cap disposed axially alongthe body portion and separably joined thereto along a plane, an oilreservoir defined at least partially by and within the cap in proximityto the main air passage, a suction nozzle opening into the main airpassage, a curved depending oil conductor provided with an intake tipand extending from the nozzle into the lower interior of the cap in sucha manner that the inside surface of said cap is tangent to the curve ofthe oil conductor, and the intake tip of the oil conductor has a bearingin proximity to the joint plane, and an air duct extending from saidmain air passage into the upper interior of the said cap.

2. An oiler for air tools and the like, including a body portion havinga main air passage therein adapted to form part of an airline leading toan air tool, a cap disposed axially along the body portion and separablyjoined thereto along a plane common to and coextensive with the bodyportion and the cap, a nozzle extending into the main air passage nearthe upper end thereof, said nozzle having a protruding portion in frontthereof for deflecting the air current past the mouth of the nozzle, anoil reservoir defined by and between the body portion and the cap andlocated below the nozzle, a curved conduit extending from the nozzleinto the lower part of the reservoir,

the curve of said conduit being tangent to the n inside surface of thecap and the said conduit being provided with an intake tip having abearing in proximity to the joint plane, and an air duct extending froma point intermediate the lower part of the reservoir and the nozzlemouth to a point in the upper part of the said oil reservoir.

3. An oiler for compressed air tools, including in combination, a basehaving a main air passage therein and a plane face on the outsideextending axially along the main air passage, an air nozzle extendinginto the main air passage near the top thereof, said nozzle having meanseffective to cause a current of air flowing through the said main airpassage to create a suction through the nozzle, a cap suitably recessedand having a joint face coinciding and coextensive with the plane faceof the said base, a reservoir space for oil in said cap, .a curved oilpipe tangent to the inside surface of the cap and extending from thelower part of the said reservoir to the nozzle, said oil pipe beingprovided with an intake tip having a bearing in proximity to the jointface, and a regulating valve disposed in the said base in cooperativerelation to said nozzle.

4. An oiler, including in combination, a base having a main air passage,2. cap separably joined to the base so as to define in common areservoir for oil, a nozzle leading from the upper reservoir space intothe main air passage, and a curved resilient tube fixed in the reservoirend of the nozzle so as to extend into the lower reservoir space, thesaid cap being adapted when in place, to contact and stress the saidcurved resilient. tube.

HENRY J. HERSEY, JR. IVAR C. ANDERSEN.

